The Potter's School (TPS)

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"The Potter's School offers two approaches customized and classical to support home education in biblical excellence."

Curriculum, scope and sequence

The potter's school has an outstanding track record preparing students for top colleges and universities. We consistently hear from our "alumni" that they are much better prepared for college than their peers. We are particularly respected for our writing and literature program, our math program, and our science program. We also have a strong foreign language program, computer science program, and bible program, as well as many other excellent courses. All of our courses feature top-notch academics taught from a biblical worldview, and include the timely effective feedback that distinguishes us from other on-line teaching services. This page provides more detail on the curriculum, scope and sequence of our various academic programs.
How do i decide which courses to take? We get asked this question frequently. Here are some things to consider.
Consider your objectives. Our courses are intended for students who seek to do all things in excellence as unto the lord. Though you don't have to be college-bound to take a tps course, our courses are designed for students headed for rigorous university degree programs. You should expect our courses to be challenging, and you should expect our courses to fully prepare you for your next step, whether that next step is the workplace, a follow-on tps course, or a course at a top university. We even have advanced courses in many subjects, such as literature, biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, government, and others. Our advanced courses function at a college level of rigor, and are thorough preparation for related college majors. We have an outstanding track record preparing students to excel in their follow-on endeavors.
College credit in high school? Though our upper-level courses are sufficiently rigorous, we don't offer college credit for them. There are basically two approaches to earning college credit in high school: taking a course at a local community college, or taking an on-line course from a college or university. How advantageous is it to earn college credit while in high school? The main advantage is that if the credits will transfer, a college-bound student can sometimes save tuition costs and college time by completing introductory level college courses at a lower cost prior to college. However, the potential disadvantages are significant, and must be weighed carefully.
First, community college credits and on-line credits often won't be accepted by other colleges, so families should check this beforehand to avoid being surprised. Second, most homeschooling families choose home education to help provide their kids a higher quality education than they would get in a public school, from a biblical worldview that they would not get at a public school, in a more edifying social context than they would experience at a public school. Community colleges typically suffer from the same (or worse) educational and spiritual shortcomings as public schools, and often make poor alternatives or supplements to an otherwise strong home education. A course from a strong college with high academic standards and a biblical worldview would hopefully not suffer from these shortcomings, but the on-line version of a course is often not taught to the same level of rigor as the on-campus version (and may not have the same credit transfer credentials), and so should be researched carefully to assess its true value for the cost.
For those who are interested in gaining college credit while homeschooling in high school and who plan to pursue a liberal arts degree, we recommend you consider belhaven college's dual enrollment courses in planning your curriculum. The tps western civilization and worldview course (belhaven high scholars) is now available for college credit to qualified high school students.
Go to http://online.belhaven.edu/high_scholars.htm for information on this new opportunity provided just for tps students.
Advanced placement and honors? In may of each year, the college board offers advanced placement exams for students to potentially be awarded college credit. Although tps does not offer any classes solely for the purpose of preparing for an ap exam (because we don't want to be limited to the ap standard), many of our advanced courses are geared to help students toward success on an ap exam. Families interested in taking a particular ap exam should discuss in advance with their tps teacher how to best use the course to prepare for it. The potter's school also does not generally designate as "honors" unless we offer two versions of the same course at different levels of rigor, because there is currently no recognized standard for what "honors" means. At the potter's school, most of our courses are rigorous enough to classify as "honors" under any certification program, and parents (as the home education transcript authority) are free to designate them as such where they deem appropriate.
Customized or classical education? For the strongest combination of top-quality academics taught from a biblical worldview and emphasizing timely personal feedback that understands education as discipleship, we recommend the potter's school. Starting in 2008-2009, the potter's school offers two approaches customized and classical to support home education in biblical excellence. As we have for over a decade, for those families who want to build their own customized curriculum or supplement another program, we continue to offer a complete list of individual courses that cover all the core and elective needs for junior and senior high. Families can take these courses a la carte in any combinations they prefer, to meet the individual needs of each student. The other approach we offer is a classical program, where the curriculum is more integrated to combine interdisciplinary courses designed specifically for the tps classical track with other tps courses to form a complete rigorous classical program. And for those who want some integration within an overall a la carte customized approach, we even offer an integrated western civilization and worldviews program within the customized a la carte environment. All three options are discussed below.
Customized education. Being able to customize a student's academic plan is one of the advantages of home education, so most home educated students take all their courses a la carte, often from a variety of sources. The potter's school offers a complete set of junior and senior high core and elective courses to build your entire academic program, or round out an existing program. Courses can be taken individually (many course have prerequisites and placement requirements), or as part of suggested sequences that cover a specific academic area.
As a unique and exciting part of our customized course offerings, we are pleased to offer a two year integrated western civilization and worldviews. Curriculum created by belhaven college. These courses provide a seamless integration of history, literature, and bible with a Christian worldview emphasis. This program, which is the equivalent of approximately three courses, is a thorough study of western civilization and worldviews, fulfilling academic requirements in history, geography, literature, composition, bible, and worldview. Classes take students on a two-year journey through the great cultures of western civilization, going beyond mere facts to offer students a profound biblical perspective on western civilization. Students sharpen their biblical worldview as they study and critique the belief system of each culture while addressing inherent philosophical, political, and ethical issues. This unique approach teaches students the value of a Christian worldview for shaping a prosperous and healthy society. More important, as a result of their studies, students will develop their own personal worldview based on the bible.
Classical education. A classical education is characterized by academic excellence, a biblical worldview, and a building-blocks approach (referred to as the "trivium") that starts with factual knowledge ("grammar"), develops it through ordered critical thinking ("logic"), and completes it with clear, concise and persuasive expression ("rhetoric"). In tps, these elements are included not just in the classical track, but in the overall tps scope and sequence for every subject and in each individual course. However, the tps classical track adds to those attributes an interdisciplinary focus, where core courses (e.g., history, worldview, literature, composition) are combined into an integrated core discipline that weaves together the various elements within the core.
We hope these general considerations and excellent options will help you plan an academic program for each year as part of a coherent overall plan for junior and senior high school. For more individualized assistance, we offer expert curriculum consultation and college preparation consultation by appointment.
We look forward to serving your family in our courses and through our online community!